Can holding device for serving

ABSTRACT

A can holding device for serving from a can includes an elongate hand-grip member to be disposed alongside the can and having means for holding and pouring from the can held thereby. The device includes an annular movable base for substantially encircling the lower end of the can and for supporting the can in spaced relation with respect to support surfaces upon which the device may be disposed when serving. A connection is formed between the base and the lower end of the hand-grip member permitting movement of the base between advanced and retracted positions as well as provision of cam means carried by the base opposite the pivot connection and disposed to engage the can and urge the base away from the pivot connection to remove any looseness in the pivot connection so as to firmly retain the base beneath the can while permitting ready alignment of the base with the can. At the upper end of the device, a can opening element is carried beneath a cross-piece together with a tubular puncture element forming a vent therefor. The cross-piece serves as a lever including a fulcrum connection at one end thereof for engaging the bead formed around the edge of the can whereby the can may both be opened for serving and punctured for venting all in the same lever movement.

United States Patent [19] Katz akia'n 54] CAN HOLDING DEVICE FOR SERVING[76] Inventor: John Katzakian, 3411 Arden Creek Rd., Sacramento, Calif.95825 22 Filed: June 22,1972 21 Appl. No.: 265,218

52 US. Cl 222/475, 222/85, 222/89 51 1m. 01 A47g 19/14 [58] Field ofSearch...; ..'222/83, 81, 5, 89,475, 222/468, 567, 83.5, 465, 86 88,469-471, 173, 184

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,229,303 1/1941 2,320,0845/1943 2,522,420 9/1950 2,812,112 11/1957 1 3,014,621 12/1961 3,134,506-5/1964 'Waym; 222/89 Primary ExaminerRobe'rt B. Reeves AssistantExaminer-11, Grant Skaggs Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Flehr, Hohbach, Test,Albritton & Herbert l [451 June 28, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT A can holdingdevice for serving from a can includes an elongate hand-grip member tobe disposed alongside the can and having means for holding and pouringfrom the can held thereby. The device includes an annular movable basefor substantially encircling the lower end of the can and for supportingthe can in spaced relation with respect to support surfaces upon whichthe device may be disposed when serving. A connection is formed betweenthe base and the lower end of the hand-grip member permitting movementof the base between advanced and retracted positions as well asprovision of cam means carried by the base opposite the pivot connectionand'disposed to engage the can and urge the base away from the pivotconnection to remove any looseness in the pivot connection so as tofirmly retain the base beneath the can while permitting ready alignmentof the base with the can. At the upper end of the device, a can openingelement is carried beneath a cross-piece together with a tubularpuncture element forming a vent therefor. The cross-piece servesas alever including a fulcrum connection at one end thereof for engaging thebead formed around the edge of the can whereby the can may both beopened for serving and punctured for venting all in the same levermovement.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures 1 CAN HOLDING DEVICE FOR SERVING BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to a can holding and pouring toaccommodate these refills, some people simply buy the large size cans ofsuch breakfast juices and place these cans on the table so that anyonewho desires to refill their glass can do so by pouring from the can.

However, where the can which has been placed on the table is largeenough to accommodate the needs of a family, it also becomessufficiently large that it makes it awkward or difficult to grip aroundthe can for any but the largest hands. For example, typically the largersize cans, such as the above size, are relatively difficult to hold inthe hand unless held by an adult and, therefore, there has been a needfor the provision of an improved can handling and serving device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS In general, there has been provideda can holding and serving device having an elongate hand-grip member tobe disposed alongside a can and means for holding and pouring from thecan held thereby. An annular movable base for encircling the lower endmargin of the can body and for supporting the can from beneath in spacedrelation from support surfaces, such as a'table upon whichthe device maybe disposed, have also been provided. i

Means have further been provided coupling the base to the lower end ofthe hand-grip member for movement between advanced and retractedpositions for accommodating substantially coaxial positioning of saidbase beneath said can when in one of said positions and means forreadily releasably holding the base in cansupporting relation beneaththe lower end of the can.

In addition to the foregoing, an elongate cantilever arm extendsdiametrically across the can from the upper .endof the hand-grip member.The cantilever arm includes means near its distal end for engaging andcoupling with the bead formed around the upper edge of a can so as toconstitute a fulcrum about which the arm can act as a lever to be urgeddownwardly against the can. The arm includes a pair of can-piercingelements, one of which serves to vent the can and the other to open thecan in the region of a pouring spout formed through the cantilever arm.

In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved can holding and pouring device particularly useful for servingbeverages at a table.

Itis another object of the present invention to provide an improved canholding and serving device which can quickly, in a single downwardmovement of a portion thereof as is coupled to the beading around theedge of the can, pierce the can and open it for pouring at one end whileat the other end a movable base is disposed in position to cooperatewith the bottom of the can and to hold the base in place.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be more readilyevident from the following detailed dis- 2 closure of a preferredembodiment when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a side elevationcenter-line section view of a can holding and serving device coupled toa can which is partially broken away for clarity;

FIG. 2 shows a top plan section view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1with the can removed;

FIG. 3 shows an end elevation view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1with the can thereof removed and with the puncturing member 26 shown inphantom lines;

FIG. 4 shows a bottom plan view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 withthe can thereof removed; and

FIG. 5 shows a portion of a top plan view of FIG. 1 taken along the line55 thereof. I

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A can holding and pouringdevice 10 of a type for engaging the top and bottom edges of a can 11includes an elongate hand-grip member 12 disposed adjacent one side wallof can 11 to extend a substantial distance alongside the can. Member 12is of a substantially rigid material and includes a pair of spaceddownwardly extending members 13,14. Member 14 is spaced sufficientlyfrom member 13 (and can 11) whereby to accommodate the fingers (notshown) of a persons hand gripping through the spacing 16.

The upper end of grip member 12 carries a cantilever lever arm 17 ofsubstantially rigid material extending from the upper end of thehand-grip member so as to diametrically span the top of the can.

The free or distal end of lever arm 17 carries a downwardly dependinghook-like element 18 of rigid material, such as steel, formed with asmall lip 19 to be engaged beneath the bead 21 formed around the upperedge of can 11. As thus arranged, hook element 18 serves to provideafulcrum about which lever arm 17 can be pivoted downwardly in thedirection of arrow 22 as element 18 prevents upward movement of thedistal end of arm 17.

Arm 17 further includes a pouring spout 23 through which the contents ofcan 11 can be dispensed. A stainless steel bar or other suitable rigidbar 24 lies beneath and secured to arm 17 and includes element 18 at oneend as a portion thereof. Bar 24 includes a downwardly curvingpuncturing element 26 struck therefrom so as to leave an opening 27disposed in line with pouring spout 23. A plastic semi-rigid lid 25 isbonded to bar 24 and formed with a gripping flange 25a for engaging bead21. r

A second puncturing element in the form of a hollow, tubular vent pipepuncture element 28 with a beveled lower end is carried to dependdownwardly from the central portion of lever arm 17.

As thus arranged, lever arm 17 can first be engaged with bead 21 bymeans of element 18 and then with a downward thrust of lever arm 17 inthe direction of arrow 22 a pouring opening 29 and a vent opening 30 canbe conjointly fonned.

Means have been provided on the top surface of arm 17 in the form of apouring gate consisting of the elongate, thin, flat blade or closureelement 32 forming a sliding closure movable along the length of arm 17for closing and opening pouring spout 23. Thus, blade 32 is slidablydisposed and retained by elongate slots 33 formed by the overhanging lipportions 34. A thumb rest 36 has been formed on one end of blade 32 formoving blade 32 back and forth in the direction of arrow 37.

An elongate slot opening 38 extends through closure element 32 at apredetermined disposition therealong for alignment with puncture (vent)element 28 during opening of the spout by the sliding of closureelement. Thus, it is readily evident that, as closure element 32 iswithdrawn to open pouring spout 23, opening 38 will become aligned withvent element 28. While closure element 32 can be withdrawn someadditional degree in order to permit additional volume of liquid to bepoured through the spout, if closure element 32 is moved too far inorder to open spout 23 to too great an extent, the venting passage ofelement 28 and the vent opening 38 will become interrupted by virtue ofthe fact that vent opening 38 will become displaced beyond vent element28 thereby blocking the vent passage through element 28 so as to slowthe flow.

A base means is carried from the lower end of handgrip member 12 toprovide an annular seat to engage the bottom of the can and dispose thebottom of the can spaced from support surfaces upon which the device maybe placed and, in this manner, eliminate any objectionable rings whichmay be formed by condensation on wood surfaces and others.

Such base means is movable between advanced and retracted positions soas to permit access for loading" the can into the holding device andpursuing the puncturing aspects noted above. In short, the meansaforementioned is movable to a position out of the way so that the cancan become attached to the lever arm 17.

Thus, an annular movable base 39 includes, in general, a cylindricalring portion 41 for encircling a lower end margin 42 of the side wall ofcan 11. Radially inwardly directed support elements, such as the tangs43,

struck from the cylindrical wall portion 41 are spaced from the lowerend thereof a predetermined distance sufficient to avoid condensationrings or the like forming on a wood or other surface.

Thus, the tangs 43 extend radially inwardly at a number of locationsaround the ring 41 other than adjacent the lower end of member 12. Atthat location, handgrip member 12 is formed at its distal end with anupwardly turned hook portion 44 for engaging the bead 46 formed aboutthe bottom edge of can 11 whereby, in conjunction with element 18, can11 will be held compressed therebetween.

As noted above, base 39 is movable between advanced and retractedpositions engaged and released relative to the bottom of can 11.Accordingly, a pair of upwardly extending pivot support arms 47 isattached as by plastic welding or otherwise to relatively flat earlikeportions 48 extending radially outwardly of base 39. The upper ends ofpivot arms 47 are coupled by means of a pivot pin 49 to the lower end ofmember 12. Pivot pin 49 is relatively small with respect to the pivotpin opening formed through the bottom end of member 12 so that the pinwill fit with sufficient looseness or lost motion at that location topennit the annular base 39 to be readily coaxially aligned with can 11when it is placed thereon.

Means are further provided for holding base 39 out of alignment withrespect to can 11 for periods when can 11 is being attached to lever arm17. Accordingly, a pair of outwardly urged small steel detent balls 51is lodged in a hole formed in the lower end of member 12 and urgedoutwardly by a spring 52. Balls 51 are suitably retained at each end ofthe hole to permit slightly less than a hemisphere of each to protrude.A dimple 54 is formed on the inside surface of each of arms 47 and inthe arcuate panel for engaging the ball detents 51.

Cam means have further been provided carried by base 39 opposite pivotconnection 49 and disposed to engage the can and urge base 39 away fromthe pivot connection so as to remove the looseness or lost motiontherein whereby to firmly retain the base beneath the can.

Accordingly, a wedge or cam 56 is formed diametrically opposite pivotpin 49 so that, as the bottom end of can 11 is moved into base 39, cam56 serves to draw base 39 slightly to the left as shown and therebytightens the connection at pivot pin 49.

From the foregoing, it will be readily evident that there has beenprovided an improved can holding and serving device having the improvedfeature of conjointly puncturing the upper surface of the can with alever arm forming a portion of the device and further provided with alower base'which is movable into and out of engagement with the bottomof a can retained in the device for pouring. It is further noted that acertain amount of looseness is found in the connection holding thebaseto the device so that it can be readily aligned but once aligned thelooseness is removed by means of cam action. Further, the arrangement asshown and described above includes novel means for aligning a ventopening with a pouring spout so as to provide additional control inpouring.

I claim:

1. In a can holding and pouring device having an elongate hand-gripmember to be disposed alongside a can and means for holding said memberto said can for pouring from the can held thereby, a member extendingacross the top of the can and having a pouring spout therethrough, anannular movable base for substantially encircling the lower end of thecan and supporting the can from beneath in spaced relation to supportsurfaces upon which said device may be disposed, means forming a pivotconnection between said base and the lower end of said hand-grip memberfor movement between advanced and retracted positions, said pivotconnection having sufficient looseness or lost motion therein to readilypermit said base member to be disposed around a lower end margin of thecan and substantially coaxially therewith, cam means carried by saidbase opposite said pivot connection and disposed to engage the can todraw the base away from the pivot connection to remove said loosenesstherein whereby to firmly retain said base beneath said can, and detentmeans carried by said hand-grip member for holding said base in itsretracted position.

1. In a can holding and pouring device having an elongate handgripmember to be disposed alongside a can and means for holding said memberto said can for pouring from the can held thereby, a member extendingacross the top of the can and having a pouring spout therethrough, anannular movable base for substantially encircling the lower end of thecan and supporting the can from beneath in spaced relation to supportsurfaces upon which said device may be disposed, means forming a pivotconnection between said base and the lower end of said hand-grip memberfor movement between advanced and retracted positions, said pivotconnection having sufficient looseness or lost motion therein to readilypermit said base member to be disposed around a lower end margin of thecan and substantially coaxially therewith, cam means carried by saidbase opposite said pivot connection and disposed to engage the can todraw the base away from the pivot connection to remove said loosenesstherein whereby to firmly retain said base beneath said can, and detentmeans carried by said hand-grip member for holding said base in itsretracted position.